Short Pants
by xLittleMissReality
Summary: '"I'm hungry." "Shouldn't you have something in your utility belt or something?" Robin shot him a glare.' Roy could never understand why Batman sent a kid out into the field. Especially a kid in short pants. A tribute to Dick's first costume.


**Summary: Roy could never understand why Batman sent a kid out into the field. **_**Especially**_** a kid in short pants.**

**Warning: Contains slight *****MANY exaggerations of Robin's abilities. I just wanted him to own everyone. Sorry.**

**Note: I made it so that Roy was 14 when he started. There seems to be no specific age for Roy so… Yeah. Robin is 11. Started at 9. Two and a half years of awesome sidekick action :P Oh yeah. There are a lot of time inconsistencies. You're just going to have to go with it, ne? Thanks for reading :)**

**Word Count: 2,973 (I'm getting better at length!)**

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><p>Roy was fifteen years old and about maybe a year into the hero business. It was a good two years before he would start calling himself Green Arrow's partner instead of sidekick and go through the<em> "Don't<em> call me a sidekick" stage, so he wasn't _as_ rebellious. (Keyword: _as._) He still didn't think he should have been left behind in the League mission.

No. Roy was going to babysit the kid in short pants. The kid was wearing traffic light colors and pixie boots. If he weren't so young something was overly fruity about him. And standing next to the Batman, this kid's costume can make your eyes hurt.

_No wonder the Joker wants to beat him up so much._ Roy thought, scowling. **I** _want to beat him up._ Yup, it definitely didn't have anything to do with this kid getting to be a sidekick before he did. Not at all.

So what if he was the first sidekick? He was only eleven and he started being "Robin" at nine years old. That's way too young (and fourteen is perfectly acceptable age to start at. Of course it was.) Yet Superman had wanted to allow the kid to go on the mission that he wasn't allowed to go on.

Okay, maybe he had two more years of experience than Roy did and _sure_ he was Bat-trained but still. This was ridiculous. He wasn't even a meta; they didn't even want Kid Flash to go and he was an _actual_ meta. It literally made no sense. But no, he didn't even want to go on the mission. He just said he "wanted to hang out with Roy." Aside from the fact that the kid knew his secret identity and he didn't know the kid's, why would he want to "hang out with him?" Now he had to baby-sit. Great.

"Okay kid. Why did you turn down the League mission?"

"I wanted to hang out with you. Kid Flash left earlier."

"No, really. Why? It's a _League mission._"

"I've been to a bunch of those before." This made Roy twitch. He'd _never_ been allowed on those. "Usually I just get to tie up the bad guys or act as a decoy. If I get lucky, they need help and I can help take out the henchmen and stuff. But other than that it's pretty boring. I like watching Superman though. He's the best." This caught Roy off guard.

"Shouldn't Batman be your favorite hero?" Roy asked, staring. Robin shrugged.

"Is Green Arrow _your _favorite hero?" He countered.

"Okay, I get your point." A moment of silence passed between them. Batman and Green Arrow had left them in a safe house somewhere deep in Gotham. Robin looks around, noting there wasn't any refrigerators or cupboards.

"I'm hungry." Robin says randomly. Roy sighs agitated.

"We're in the middle of Gotham at midnight and there's no food anyways. Can't it wait until they get back?" Robin shook his head.

"I saw the stats for this mission. Something to do with the Brain and Gorilla Grodd. It'll take at least another four hours, especially since Booster Gold's going."

"Oh. Well I guess that is pretty long… Shouldn't you have something in your utility belt or something?" Robin shot him a glare. "Okay. What do you want, twerp?"

"My name's Robin, first of all. Secondly, pizza."

"Pizza? Are you kidding me? If we ordered pizza it would jeopardize our position. Are you stupid?" Roy yelled. He really, _really _didn't like this kid.

"No." Robin says, drawing out the 'o' in a 'duh' tone of voice. "We're gonna go and get it. I'm pretty sure you've been on stealth missions before. We'll just carefully get there, get the pizza, and then stick to the shadows."

"That's stupid. Someone could follow us. And this is Gotham. People are bigger, meaner, and crazier than anywhere else." Roy said. Honestly, was this kid mentally insane? Maybe fighting them too long made him as crazy as they were.

"That's exactly why we'll go. It's _Gotham_ and it's Batman and my city. I know her and her citizens like the back of my hand." Robin crosses his arms, his yellow-lined cape swishing from the sudden movement. "Batman and I just put Joker and Harley in yesterday, Riddler's going to break out, maybe next week. Ivy's still recovering from our last encounter, and Penguin's still confused as to what he's doing next. Killer Croc and Bane are in Arkham for now, so are Scarecrow and Catwoman. They updated security there so it's gonna take a little more than the usual to break out this time, which gives them about two more weeks." Robin lists, counting off each major villain off his _bright green_ gloves. "Hugo Strange, Calendar Man, and the rest are incapacitated too. All that's going to be left are some minor thieves and gangs. Unless you're scared." Robin says smirking. "I thought you were supposed to be braver than me." Roy's ears turned as red as his uniform from anger.

"It's okay if you're scared of Gotham. I guess not everyone can _handle_ it." Robin watched the ginger's eyes narrow and knew he had him.

"Let's go get that stupid pizza, Boy Weirdo." Robin grinned and it took up half his face. _Aw, shit._ Thought Roy. _I fell for it. Too late now._

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><p><em>Minor thugs and gangs my ass!<em> Roy thinks, angry and bow raised. Robin is back to back with him, birdarangs in his hand and a grin on his face. Surrounding them are a good nine men, all armed and all with giant, meaty fists. They looked like they had steroids in their coffee each morning. Awesome.

"Ah. Boy Blunder. I see you have a friend." A man wearing a pinstriped suit with a crisp button up shirt, tie, and a fedora came from the circle of men. He was a stereotypical gang leader, down to the giant cigar.

"Seriously? Joker calls me 'Boy Blunder' once and all of a sudden it's they can't think of anything else." Robin rants, agitated. Roy rolls his eyes.

"Get 'em boys. We'll get Batman to pay ransom for 'em. Actually," the leader says, looking at Roy, "He's not important. You can kill 'im." Roy gritted his teeth. He was tired of being 'not important' as unidentified gang member had so eloquently worded it. He lunged at the leader, shooting a trick arrow that exploded. Unfortunately for Roy, he was more lithe than he looked and jumped out of the way. Strangely, he decided not to use his gun. Roy was startled. Those types usually were all bark, no bite cowards that hid behind their guns. His thugs were, but the gang leader actually had some skill.

The man was quite taller than Roy, towering over him and therefore had a height advantage over Roy. The man easily countered most punches, kicks, and blocks, and Roy grew more and more agitated as they went along.

_Is today give-Speedy-a hard-time day or something? First it was the League, then Robin, and now a random thug. This is really getting on my nerves._

He decided he needed to get to a higher ground in order to get a more efficient shot, but he was followed. He threw a jumping roundhouse kick to the man's face, who blocked it with his hand. He tried to grab it, but Roy's reflexes were faster so he was able to quickly recoil and strike again with a fake, followed by a turning hook kick 360. The man stepped back, before landing a punch to Roy's gut. As a response, he grunted, then used the man's out stretched arm as a fulcrum and flip him over. The man quickly recovered and jumped back at Roy.

The man ran towards him before ducking last second and making a sweep for Roy's ankles. Roy jumped over his leg like a jump rope before landing a palm strike to his face. The gangster stumbled, landing on his back. Running, he tried to tackle Roy head-on, fueled by anger and not thinking straight. _That, and I did knock him in the head a few times. Probably disoriented._ Roy thought, smug.

As the man came he jumped, using the man's shoulders as a springboard to flip over him. Before he could react, Roy pulled out his final trick arrow of the night, a net. It captured the villain and Roy could only smile.

_Good job._ _Now why are we out here? Oh yeah, for the kid's pizza. Wait!_ Roy panicked. _Kid! Damn, Batman will not be happy… Ohshitohshitohshitohshit… _

He looked around and noticed he was on the rooftop of one of the buildings making up the alleyway they were attacked in. It was the kid's idea to stick to alleyways and shadows. What a great suggestion _that_ had been. But if Roy had thought about it, it seemed like he _wanted_ this to happen.

"Kid! Kid! Where are you? _Robin!"_

"Nope, sorry, can't be doing that." He hears Robin's prepubescent voice behind him and breathes a mental sigh of relief. He turns around in time to see Robin throwing a birdarang, knocking something shining in the moonlight from the thug's hand.

A gun. The man was going to shoot him.

Robin had just saved his life.

"Uh…" Roy was speechless. "Thanks."

"No problem." The boy says brightly. "Uh, hold on." He flips over to the thug and swiftly and precisely jabs his neck, causing him to pass out.

"He was going to try for it again I didn't want to risk it." The boy says, kicking the criminal in the net a bit.

"Yeah. Uh... Um…" Roy doesn't know what to think.

"The other thugs are out cold right now. They're in the pile over there." Now Roy is completely impressed. Robin had taken out all nine thugs by himself. Speedy looks next to the mountain of thugs to see a slightly smaller pile (a hill?) of guns and firearms. _Huh. I guess I did hear some gunshots in the background…_

He looks at the smaller boy, almost analyzing him. Roy watches as he flips to the alleyway and picks up something before using his grappling gun to go and scale the building again. He holds a small square box.

"By the way, I got bored and got the pizza already. Hope you like cheese." He opens the box, one of the pieces already missing.

Roy had to give the kid props. He pulled out his communicator.

"Do you want me to call the police?" Roy says. Robin nods.

"Yeah. Might wanna stay around too, I don't know when those other guys will wake up."

After Roy calls, they sit there and devour the pizza, Roy eating more than Robin.

"So this is what you deal with everyday with Batman?" Asks Roy.

"Yeah. Usually he takes out the big guys and I take out the thugs. I've gotten really good at it nowadays. Usually he's fighting people like the Joker and the Riddler so they're a lot harder to fight. I'm not ready yet, 'pparently." Robin finishes. "But they usually have better henchmen so they take longer. These guys aren't anything like the real thing." He looks out into the city. There's a pause.

"You did a great job. I'm sorry for disrespecting you or anything."

"You too. Plus it's fine. I'm used to it by now."

"Used to what?"

"People underestimating me." Robin sighs, pushing back his bangs from his face.

"Underestimating you? Superman wanted you to go with them on the mission."

"Nah, it doesn't mean much. It's probably just Batman. Besides, it took me forever for Superman to start seeing me as a legitimate hero, you know?" Robin suddenly twitches, head tilted towards the street.

"Commish is coming, I'm gonna hide real fast." Roy looked at the boy like he was crazy only to receive a wink and a finger to smiling lips.

They both get down to the alley, Robin standing in the shadows, the black outside of his cape making him invisible in the dark. Sure enough, three police cars and a van appear on the street, Roy in plain sight of them. An older man comes out, balding with a bushy mustache and a serious expression on his face.

"Speedy, right? With Green Arrow?" Roy nods, slightly wondering how he knew that. _It's official. Everyone from Gotham is crazy_. "What are you doing in Gotham?" A flash of yellow is seen among the shadows and Roy notices the tiniest of smiles on the older man's lips.

"Hello Robin." Robin laughs—no, _cackles_—before coming out of the dark, face split with a smile.

"Hi commish! Looks like you're getting better at finding me." Roy knows Robin did it purposely; the boy was so good at disappearing. It seemed the commissioner knew it too.

"Perhaps." His eyes scan the alleyway and find the lump of thugs all hog-tied and gagged, courtesy of Robin, the leader laying on the top, passed out with the net tangling him and disabling movement. "Good job you two. These guys escaped last month. We've been waiting for them to make a move."

"No problem. Me and Speedy gotta go, Batman and the League are gonna be expecting us soon." This made Roy's eyes widen. How much time had they spent fighting those guys?

"Um. Thanks commissioner." The man only nods at both of the young sidekicks' comments.

"Be safe. I'll see you soon Robin." Commissioner says in a gruff voice. Robin nods while Speedy salutes and they flip towards the rooftops in silence.

"I like your arrows." Robin says, finally, breaking the silence. "They're cool 'cause of the gadgets. They're kinda like batarangs." He concludes, smirking a little before talking another jump to the next rooftop.

"Yeah, I guess so." Roy shrugs, running along a railway.

Robin flips down, seeing as they just got to their little hideout. "Except, they can go a longer distance because of your bow." Roy nodded, absentmindedly fingering the bows in his quiver.

"I wish I could use a bow. I mean, I know how to use a staff, eskrima sticks, shuriken—"Robin pauses to look at Speedy's blank expression. "Throwing stars. Well yeah. I know how to use all those but I haven't learned how to use a bow. You'd think I would by now." Robin says, scratching the back of his head.

Roy places the nock of an arrow on his bowstring and draws back as if he was going to shoot. "It's not that hard when it comes down to it. Just put this little slit—it's called a nock—on the string, and aim. You have to make sure that your feet are steady if you're starting out." Roy explains, smiling slightly at the boy's interested expression. He shoots, perfectly straight and he watches it fly, landing directly at the opposite wall on a small stain on the wallpaper.

"Where'd you learn how to use a bow, Roy?" Roy cringes slightly, lowering his bow.

"From Native Americans in the forests." He says, bluntly.

"Whoa." A shadow comes to life from the corner moving and flickering in the small amount of light they have in the room. Roy's bow is automatically back up, eyes narrowed and watching the figure down the arrow's shaft. Robin, however, grins and bounds right up to it.

Oh. It was Batman.

"Hey Batman!" Robin chirped. Roy lowered his bow, quickly replacing the arrow as his face burned. How could he not know it was Batman?

"Don't think that just because we were on the mission that I didn't know you both went out." Batman's voice was rough and stern. Robin laughed nervously.

"Yeah… Well… I was hungry and wanted pizza. Don't blame Roy though," Robin assured quickly, "I kinda tricked him into it. And we got the guys anyways!" They were so screwed.

"Despite the results you two could have gotten injured or worse. It was foolish of you." Batman glared down at Robin, who just let out a puff of air.

"Speedy, you shouldn't let a boy four years younger than you, no matter how experienced or conniving," Batman said, sending a quick look at Robin, who just scoffed, "convince you into doing foolish things." Speedy's face burned to the point that he was redder than his hair.

"Otherwise… good job." Without a second look, Batman swept out of the room, Robin lingering behind.

"You're lucky. He's usually not this forgiving. But—" He said, dragging the 'u,' "He's probably gonna make me do extra drills tomorrow." Roy could only nod his head, slightly shocked at the whole situation. Robin's head turned to the left for a bit, looking in the distance as if listening in for something. "Batman's calling. See you later Roy! Oh, you're gonna have to teach me some archery next time."

"Um… Yeah, sure… Bye. I guess." The Boy Wonder just laughed before running off into the darkness. Roy was stuck in that position for a while, still shocked. So shocked, in fact, that he didn't notice Green Arrow placing a gloved hand on his shoulder. He jolted, facing towards his mentor before relaxing.

"How was tonight?" Oliver asked, smirking at the boy. The tips of his ears were still red in embarrassment and confusion.

"Interesting. Took down a gang." Roy said, being as nonchalant as he could. It would have worked if it weren't the pink that was yet to fade from his face.

"Cool. So do you like the kid?"

"I guess."

"Good. You, Kid Flash, and Robin will be meeting up next week." That meant train. Roy groaned.

Although he would act disinterested, he knew he was excited. The kid had skill and lots of it.

Still, the short pants and pixie boots were kinda weird…

_Fin._

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><p><strong>AN (Jeez. I derped that up. Oh well.) So there we go guys. This little plot bunny kinda just came while looking at other Roy/Dick meeting stories. They were just too adorable and I wanted to write one too. I tried to make it cheesy yet mine at the same time and I know I failed immensely but, y'know, c'est la vie and all that. I kind of relaxed my writing to match Roy in all his pubescent glory, which explains all the little notes and off-to-the-side comment type sentences I threw in there. I hope someone likes it.**

**Oh, and I wasn't really sure about the archery part. I had a feeling that he wouldn't try and explain all the archery terms to him so I didn't need to look up more than I already know. Sorry if it was full of fail.**

**Bye :)**


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